Claim OwnershipThe Dental Lighthouse with Dr. Jason Tanoory
Subscribed: 5Played: 355
Subscribe
© Copyright 2023 All rights reserved.
Description
Let’s talk about everything Dental! We will answer questions and discuss just about anything from motivating kids to growing your patient base!
112 Episodes
Reverse
If you tiptoe around diagnoses, patients pay the price. In this candid riff, Dr. Jason challenges new associates and hygienists to stop under-diagnosing out of fear and start telling patients what they actually need, with empathy and clarity. He uses common-sense analogies (optometrist, mechanic, primary care) to show why “let’s watch it” is often just avoidance, then lays out simple language to present perio care, restorations, and time-of-service expectations without drama.
You’ll learn:
How to replace scarcity and fear with professional confidence
Language that is firm, kind, and rooted in patient benefit
When to present treatment now versus truly re-evaluate later
How leaders can coach providers who keep punting hard conversations
A checklist for clear recommendations, consent, and next steps
Share this with your clinical team. Patients trust you for the truth, not a comfortable maybe.
Silence breeds stories. In this solo riff, Dr. Jason lays out why leaders must over communicate the why behind goals, policies, and changes. He unpacks the John Gordon principle that in the absence of communication people fill the gap with negativity, then shows how to prevent that with clear, simple context.
You’ll learn:
How to anchor big goals in a clear purpose so teams buy in
What to say when rolling out time-of-service collections
How to frame assisted hygiene days so no one assumes you’re “turning into a mill”
A repeatable script to explain the why quickly and move forward
When pushback is useful and when it is just “we’ve always done it this way”
If you want fewer rumors and more results, start leading with the why. Every time.
In this special episode, Dr. Jason shares a condensed version of his full 16-hour Servant Leadership training—recorded live at Dr. Paul Goodman’s “Dental Nachos” Boost Conference in Philadelphia. Whether you’re a founding dentist, office manager, or team lead, this session will challenge how you think about leadership, character, and influence.
You’ll learn how to:
Build a culture rooted in agape love—the choice to lead with patience, kindness, and honesty
Replace “power” leadership with influence-driven authority
Create clarity through systems, feedback, and accountability
Develop your character to make better choices in the moments that matter
Dr. Jason breaks leadership down into a repeatable, practical framework you can apply Monday morning. If you’re ready to lead with purpose, clarity, and courage—this one’s for you.
In this episode, Dr. Jason breaks down how to set smarter financial goals for your practice—without waiting until the week between Christmas and New Year’s when the Manhattans are flowing and the notebook comes out. He walks through a practical, no-fluff method for projecting 2026 revenue and profitability, explaining why most dentists miss the mark by setting goals without a tactical plan to back them up.
You’ll learn how to:
Calculate realistic revenue growth using real data (not wishful thinking)
Identify where to find hidden profit in your expenses
Track your performance like a business owner, not just a clinician
Avoid the “hope and hustle” trap that leads to burnout
If you’re ready to stop guessing and start leading your practice with precision and confidence, this episode is your jumpstart for a more intentional, profitable 2026.
In Part 2 of this bonus and incentive series, Dr. Jason dives into team-based reward systems—what works, what fails, and how to design plans that actually improve performance and protect profitability.
You’ll learn:
Why “set a random goal and hope for the best” bonus systems backfire
How to calculate your BAM (Bareass Minimum) number so your team understands what it takes to break even
Simple frameworks for profit-sharing that reward ownership thinking, not entitlement
How to protect cash flow while building a transparent, high-accountability culture
What conversations start happening when your team actually knows the numbers
From arbitrary production goals to data-driven profit sharing, Jason shares how his own practices have evolved—mistakes, wins, and all. If you’ve ever struggled to balance motivation with money, this episode will help you build a system that drives results without draining your bottom line.
When it comes to bonuses and incentive plans, there’s no one-size-fits-all formula—and the wrong plan can tank culture just as fast as it boosts production. In this episode, Dr. Jason breaks down what actually works when rewarding individuals in your practice—dentists, hygienists, assistants, and office managers—and why the key is matching the right system to the right people.
You’ll learn:
The incentive structures that motivate A and B players (and why they flop for C players)
Simple, transparent ways to bonus hygienists, associates, and managers without wrecking cash flow
How to tie rewards to behaviors that benefit patients, the team, and the practice equally
Where most practices go wrong with profit sharing and “motivational carrots”
This is Part 1 of a two-part series. Next up: how to design team-wide incentives that build alignment and accountability instead of resentment.
If you’re ready to move beyond cookie-cutter bonus plans and start rewarding what actually drives growth, this one’s for you.
Dr. Jason sits down with Ryan Gross of CMO Share to talk real numbers and real moves when patient demand gets price sensitive. Using multi-year call and search data, Ryan explains why more patients now lead with cost and insurance questions and what winning practices do on their websites, phones, and schedules to keep conversion high.
You’ll learn:
Which pages to upgrade first so AI and Google surface your answers when patients ask “how much” and “does it hurt.”
How to add clear fee ranges and financing on service pages without scaring people off.
The exact phone language that saves price-shopping calls instead of losing them.
Why visible online availability boosts traffic and calls, even if most patients still book by phone.
Capacity plays that create “yes, today” options without wrecking your ops.
When to cut, when to double down, and how to stay aggressive while everyone else retreats.
If you want a simple plan to protect growth when wallets tighten, this episode gives you the levers and the scripts.
In this episode, Dr. Jason sits down with his longtime accountant and tax strategist, Scott Haberman (CPA, Eide Bailly), to unpack one of the most common questions in dentistry: “Should I start a DSO?”
Together they break down what a DSO actually is, when it makes sense to form one, and the key mistakes owners make when scaling beyond a single practice. From equity and efficiency to tax implications and partner dynamics, this is a candid, real-world look at what it takes to grow responsibly.
You’ll learn:
When to consider creating a DSO—and when not to
How multi-location owners can clean up “messy books” and clarify profitability
What equity and ownership structures actually look like in practice
Whether DSOs offer real tax advantages or just extra headaches
Why clarity, communication, and clean agreements matter more than ever
If you’ve ever wondered whether a DSO could streamline your operations or just complicate your life, this conversation will help you see the full picture—no sugarcoating, just strategy.
Note takers have opinions. Recordings have receipts. In this episode, Dr. Jason lays out why hitting “record” on every team meeting, 1:1, and quick check-in is the simplest way to boost clarity, coaching, and follow-through. He covers the big four: perception vs reality, building better leaders with real feedback, keeping part-timers in the loop, and turning talk into action items that actually get done. Then he walks through the how with permission, tools, access control, and a clean workflow so nothing slips.
You’ll get:
A repeatable system for recording, summarizing, and assigning next steps
How to coach with empathy while still saying the uncomfortable thing clearly
A way to share only the right clips with the right people
The privacy and consent guardrails that keep you safe
Perfect for: owners and ops leads who want fewer “Wait, that’s not what I heard” moments and more measurable progress.
Not every “busting at the seams” practice needs a bigger building. In this episode, Dr. Jason coaches a young owner who’s winning on paper but questioning whether expansion is worth the debt, stress, and time tradeoffs. They dig into the real why behind growth, how to spot FOMO in your decision making, and smart ways to create progress without adding ops or headcount.
You’ll hear:
A simple test to know if you actually want expansion or just feel pressured
How to grow fulfillment, EBITDA, and team capability inside your current four walls
The “season” mindset for big moves and how to protect family time while you build
When to pass on great opportunities and trust another will appear
Practical delegation moves that buy back hours before you spend dollars
Perfect for: owners at capacity who crave progress but refuse to mortgage their peace just to keep up.
Your front desk is glued to Instagram, your schedule is leaking, and your A-players are quietly fuming. In this episode, Dr. Jason breaks down a real listener email and walks through a simple path from chaos to consistency. You will learn the difference between triangular accountability and peer to peer accountability, how to define “winning” for the front desk so expectations are crystal clear, and when to offer grace vs when to set consequences. If you have ever lightened someone’s workload to “help” and accidentally punished your rock stars, this one will sting in the best way.
You’ll get:
A quick script to shift from tattling to peer accountability
A checklist to reset standards for phone use and align to core values
How to tie behavior to metrics so coaching is objective, not emotional
When to escalate from coaching to write up to part ways
A reminder to protect culture by not redesigning systems around C players
Perfect for: owners and leads who want a focused, no drama plan to get phones down and productivity up.
In this episode of the Dental Lighthouse Podcast, Dr. Jason sits down with Corey, a young dentist from North Carolina, who is navigating the all-too-familiar “ceilings of complexity.” From maxing out physical space and operatories to stretching leadership bandwidth and balancing family, faith, and personal health, Corey shares what it’s really like to grow a practice while trying not to lose yourself in the process.
Together, they unpack what happens when growth collides with capacity—how to recognize culture cracks before adding an associate, why morning huddles and leadership delegation matter more than ever, and how to protect your time so you can lead both inside the office and at home.
If you’ve ever felt stuck between expanding your practice and protecting your peace, this conversation will give you clarity, perspective, and the courage to push through to your next level.
If your practice is growing but accountability feels like it’s slipping through the cracks, this episode is for you. Jason dives into the real, practical steps for defining exactly what your leads should be doing day in and day out.
Using a case study of a large, successful practice on the verge of expansion, he unpacks how to bring structure to the front desk and beyond—without flipping everything upside down. You’ll learn:
Why accountability charts and clearly defined “hats” matter
The 80/20 split of leadership vs. patient-facing tasks for leads
How checklists, scorecards, and meetings drive accountability
What effective one-on-ones look like (and how they build trust)
How to empower leads to actually lead instead of running every issue back to the doctors
This is not about cookie-cutter consulting. It’s about building systems that fit your unique practice while giving your team the tools, clarity, and confidence to step into leadership roles.
What happens when you're on the other side of the patient experience—and it goes sideways?
In this episode, Dr. Jason shares a personal story about a frustrating hospital visit that left him stewing in a changing room for nearly an hour. From missed MRI scans to poorly managed expectations, this experience becomes a powerful analogy for common mistakes made in dental practices every day.
You’ll learn:
Why small oversights—like not checking a scan before a patient leaves—can create outsized damage to trust and perceived competence.
How to handle mistakes with urgency and empathy, including working around patient schedules.
The overlooked power of proactive communication and managing expectations in real time.
Why a simple, thoughtful gesture (like a $10 gift card) can help repair a frayed patient relationship.
This episode is a crash course in turning service breakdowns into leadership and systems breakthroughs. If you want to improve your patient experience, start here.
Join Dr. Jason Tanoory and the ever-unique Dr. Paul Goodman (aka "Dr. Nachos") in this dynamic episode of the Dental Lighthouse Podcast. What starts as a role-reversing interview quickly becomes a rich, candid conversation about leadership, systems, mentorship, and the everyday “brain damage” of running a dental practice.
With humor, humility, and hard-earned insight, Jason and Paul unpack everything from real-time feedback and CEO time to onboarding associates and building a team culture rooted in empathy, honesty, and servant leadership.
If you're a dentist, leader, or someone striving to create impact through service, this episode will leave you inspired, informed, and ready to lead with intention.
You fought to get out of the chair. You finally carved out real CEO time. Now you're staring at your calendar like a dog that caught the car.
What the hell are you supposed to do with this time?
In this episode, Jason breaks down exactly how to think about—and use—your CEO time, starting with two foundational principles: vision and scorecards. He unpacks why clarity beats urgency, why texting your team at 10pm is a leadership fail, and how to use your time to move the business—not just your to-do list—forward.
This one's especially relevant for docs transitioning out of clinical, scaling their practices, or just trying to stop reacting and start leading.
When a rock-solid associate saw her schedule tank, she assumed it was bad luck or uneven exam distribution. But a quick data dive told a different story. In this episode, Jason unpacks a one-on-one coaching conversation about why production drops often have less to do with patient “yeses” and more to do with how much treatment is actually being presented.
You’ll learn how to think like a scientist with your scorecard, how to diagnose production slumps, and why running behind today might just save your schedule next month. This episode is packed with tactical wisdom for doctors who want to take more ownership over their numbers without falling into the victim trap.
Just because you can add another doctor doesn’t mean it’s the smart move. In this episode, Jason shares a coaching story about a doc who expanded too soon and ended up with two under booked doctors and not enough hygiene to support them. It’s a common trap for growing practices that haven’t fully thought through the math, the ratios, or the realities of day-to-day scheduling.
Jason breaks down when it makes sense to bring on a second provider and when you're better off adding a hygienist and grinding it out. He shares tactical ways to manage the short-term chaos, like adjusting your schedule, using bypass exam protocols, and making smart trade-offs. If your practice is at that tipping point, this episode could save you from an expensive misstep.
This hour-long episode is exactly what the title promises—Jason’s no-fluff guide to the actual habits, mindsets, and behaviors that define great leadership in a dental practice. Pulled straight from his coaching work and years in the trenches, this isn’t about lofty ideas. It’s about clarity, consistency, and courage.
He covers:
Why most “leadership problems” are actually clarity problems
How to stop being the hero and start building real accountability
The danger of trying to be liked instead of respected
How to use the “5C’s” and servant leadership in real-world situations
Packed with real stories and hard-won lessons, this episode is a roadmap for docs who want to lead without burning out—or bailing out.
Whether you’re new to leadership or just tired of feeling stuck, this one’s worth every minute.
This week, Jason sits down with bestselling author and dentist Dr. Addison Killeen to talk about his newest release, The Shift—a leadership fable packed with real stories and actionable business lessons. Known for his system-heavy guides, Addison steps into a more personal, story-driven format to help young dental leaders navigate ownership, burnout, and the messy reality of building great teams.
They talk about what inspired the book, why storytelling is such a powerful teaching tool, and how Addison weaves hard-earned lessons from real practices (and even welding shops) into a framework anyone can use. If you’re a new practice owner, a department lead, or just trying to figure out what kind of leader you want to be—this episode will hit home.
Get ready for practical wisdom, a few laughs, and some seriously good reasons to order the book before the day’s over.
Link to purchase The Shift by Dr. Addison Killeen
Comments
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States